Ejector unloading apparatus for vehicles



June 20, 1950 F. E. KNAPP, JR

EJECTOR UNLOADING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 22. 1948 ATTORNEY.

June 20, 1950 I F. PP, JR 2,512,339

EJECTOR UNLOADING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES Filed April 22, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY.

June 20, 1950 F. E. KNAPP, JR

EJECTOR UNLOADING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 22. 1948 INVENTORZ AT TORNEY.

June 20, 1950 F. E. KNAPP, JR

EJECTOR UNLOADING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES 4 Sheets -Sheet 4 Filed April 22. 1948 Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EJEc'roR UNLOADING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES Fred E. Knapp, J r., Cissna Park, Ill.

' Application April 22, 1948, Serial No. 22,524

3 Claims. (Cl. 214-82) conventional box wagon, or attached to a box of such wagon, and connected with and operated by a motor tractor or other source of power through a suitable connecting shaft extended from the power take-off shaft of the tractor or other source of power to the driven shaft of the unloading apparatus as mounted upon the wagon containing the material to be unloaded.

Another object of the invention is to provide for aconventional box-wagon, an unloading apparatusof the kind referred to and mounted thereon, the same including a push-platepositioned transversely, vertically and reciprocably Within the wagon-box between the side-plates thereofiand arranged for movement forwardly for enabling the loading of material into the wagon-box, and rearwardly thereafter at the place of unloading the material, for pushing such material out of the rear end of the wagon-box, the rear end-gate of the box having first been removed for such unloading operation, and power controlled and operated means for so moving the push-plate forwardly and rearwardly for the purposes, specified.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a Wagon-box for mounting upon the running gear or chassis of a wagon, the said box having a bed plate, side plates, fixed front end plate and removable rear end gate, a push plate or unloading plate mounted freely, transversely and vertically within the wagon box and arranged for movement forwardly and rearwardly therein, a pair of flexible cables extended laterally above and below the bed-plate of the wagon box, these cables being fastened at their ends overlying the bed-plate to brackets secured laterally to the rear side of the lower margin of the push-plate, said cables being passed over pulleys mounted laterally on the rear end of the bed-plate and thence passed forwardly below the bed-plate and over rotatable drums or spools of winches mounted at the forward end of the box and thereat fastened to thedrums for preventing slipp ge of the cables thereon, and controllable power operated means for rotating the winch-H drums" in either direction, for moving the said push-plate within the wagon-box forwardly for clearing the box fOr receiving a load of material or rearwardly for discharging the same.

With the stated objects in View, together with suchiother objects and advantages as may appear from the specification, attention is directed to the accompanyin drawing asillustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a truck, showing my unloading apparatus mounted thereon and in process of operation by a conventional motor tractor. unloading apparatus as shown in this view taken'on the line ll of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the unloadin apparatus as mounted on a truck, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the front end of the truck body, with push-plate mounted therein, and cable drums and operating winch for moving the push-plate back and forth within the truck body.

Figure 4 isa frontal elevation of the assembly shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3, the outer end of the cable-drum at the right being broken off.

Figure 6 is avertical longitudinal section on anenlarged scale, taken on the line 6--6 of Fi ure 4.

Figure 7 is a detail view in side elevation and on an enlarged scale, of the device for automatically throwing the gear shift mechanism into neutral position, when the operator releases the control lever of this mechanism.

Figure 8 is a-vertical, transverse section, taken on the line 8--8 of Figure 5, showing the method of the running gear as means for attachment to' a motor tractor 5, having a motor to and power take-off shaft 6b, for'moving the wagon and'at- The truck with i rear ends overlying the bed-plate to angular" brackets Ia mounted on the rear side of the lower margin of the push-plate 1, thence passed rearwardly over pulleys 9 mounted'laterally on the rear end of the bed plate a, and thence passed forwardly below the bed-plate and overand around rotatable drums or spools lfl, a, which are mounted in spaced relation? on the 'endsof'the. drivesshaft ll'journa'led at 'itsends asat' I lazin. the forwardly extended ends of the arms l2 bolted as at 112a to'the outer sides of the: side plates '5?) of the'wagon-box, attheforward endfth'ereofi' The drums. or spools HI, Illa; are keyed at i3- to the ends of theshaft I l. The shaftll anddrums I0, Illa are. inclosed' in housings' I 4; |.4a,1bolted.

atz'l dbto' the arms f2, and additionally'supported by brackets l5 extendedfrom the frontalpend" plate 50. The extended'ends ofth-e-cabl'es-B; So, as passed forwardly below the bed-plate 5a, enter the'housings l4, Ma; through elongated; slots Mo. formed medially through the lower walls 0f? the housings;

Theidrums orspools. Iii, ma, areformedrespectively with leftand right hand-helical grooves I011; 100, and afterthe cablesfl', 8a, are passed into the housings in" manner aforesaid, they are drawn taut, thus pulling the push-plate 1 fully forward up to the frontal end-plate 50, as shown inli'igure 3, and. the slacks of the cables are taken up: by starting at theinner ends of the drums and winding; the cables up outwardly along the: drums and in the helical grooves thereof to the approximatecenters ofv the drums;'Where they] are fastened to the drums against slippage by passing the: cables through holes Hid- :formed transversely and eccentrically through the drums, as shown inrE'igureB, and passing set screws 15 throughthe adjacent peripheral portions of the drums andseatingvthese screws against strands of the cables. The cables 8', 8a, are then giventwoor three additional turns in the grooves, and the freeends of: the cables are then passed through elongated slots Md formed in the upper: sidesof theihousings: M, Ma: The forward free ends of thecables, are finally passed through-horizontally elongated slots 5d formed through the-end plate 5070f: the-wagon 5-,; and are fastened. to brackets l'l anchoredi to the frontal side ofthelowerimargin of the push-plate 1; all asshown -in Figure 3.

As shownin :the present drawings, the: cables 8, 8a-,-'as -:t-hey' pass forwardly under the-bed-plate 5a,..are passedoverrollers It bracketed at. ill-to the frontal.end; plate 5c, before entering the housings M; Ma, butrifpreferred, these-rollers. may-be omitted. Likewise, the helical grooving ofthe; drums),- Hla, mayrbe-i-omitted, ifdesired.

Asuitabl-y heavy spurdrive-gear 2D (Figure-6) is keye'd as: at zflartoqthe drive-shaft H between Q thespacedwhousings M;- l4a,; anda gear housing 2 I :is mounted'overthis gean, thesaid gear housiing; being firmly anchored tothe inner ends of then-drum: housings 14-; Ma, by; welding: or other."

conventional manner. The gear housing 2| includes an upper, horizontal and forwardly extended cover portion Zla and a lower, vertically pendant portion Zlb, these two portions being bolted together as at Ho. The forward end of the cover portion 2 la is formed with a Work opening 21d closable by means of a bearing plate Zle removably mounted in place by set screws or bolts; 2|); .A vertical gear. shaft 22 is: journaled through a bearingbrace 23' mounted transversely through the lower housing 2lb, the lower end of this shaft being seated in the pillow block Zid formed integrally in-the bottom of the housing 21b; A worm gear 24 is rigidly anchored on the shaft 22 and placed in mesh with the drive gear 20, this worm gear being supported at its ends between the ball bearing units 25. A bevelled pinion gear 26 is keyed at 26a to the upper end of the shaft 22 above the bearing brace 23. A

horizontal gear shaft 21 is journaled through the bearing plate-,2l:e:-of theupperhousing 2;la ,f,the inner end of this shaft being-:seated in thepillow block 2:l e formed integrally at .the'inner end of;

this housing. The shaft 21' is splined medially at 2.1a, thereby sl-idably mounting a clutch-meme ber28. which hasthe ratchpinions 28a, 28b, rigidly :mounted .at its: ends, thus leavingv aninter vening annular groove, slot or channel-28c, for. a purpose later explained. Rotatably' mounted on the" shaft Z'L-atopposite sides of the slldable clutch member 28, are positive clutch. members 29,- 29a, which have the ratchetpinions 2912,290,

side or. the tother, in the manner later.described. Bevelled pinion gears 30, 30a, are keyed at. 30b;

3Bc,---to.:the1clutch memberslQ, 29a, andthese bevelled gearsBlL. 30a; are placed in mesh-withthe-complemented-bevelledgear 26 0f the shaft 22.

The apparatus as here shown andzdescribed. is

operatedby a motor tractor .6, througha connect.- ing powertransmission shaft 31 one end: thereof being joined as. at 3:la to the power take-off shaft 6b. of. the-motor tractor, and the. opposite end-joinedzasat- 31b to. the power receiving or. drivengear shaft 27 of. the unloading apparatus. Any suitable-form-of transmission shaft mayof. course be. used, suchas a flexible. shaft (not shown)? or the rigid shaft as here. shown,.-and provided with universal joint connectionssuch asshownat3 l'c. Such shaftsand connections are of common use. Likewise any form of motor tractor may be employed, vwith-apower take-off shaft projected laterally as here shown, or.

straightly rearward, and not hereshown. Also any usual form. of hitch,..such .as.-shown at- 60 in- Figural, may beemployed. and extended from,

the tractor B for engaging the forward endof.

the tongue. 5g of; the wagon 5,-.for thepurpose-of movingthe wagon and unloading apparatus from place to. place.

For the purpose of shifting the slidable clutch member 28 from side to side. for alternately in-- termeshing the ratch 'pinions 28a, 2812, with the positive clutch ratch pinions 29b, 290, or to a medial neutral position, a gear-shift shaft 33-..is journaled' as at 33a. transversely through theup per gear housing 25a (Figures. 5,7) this shaft being. extended out through the left side of the housing as at 33b. A yoke 34 is provided, the same'being formed with an upper tubular sleeve 34a, aligned, pendant arms 34?)- atits ends, and

with inturnedlugsfiflc atv the lower. ends-of the l gara es i1 the housing 2la and upon-the shaft '33=.by=pas's ing the arms 34b downwardly over the slidable clutch member 28 with the arms34b astraddle of the member and the lugs 34c entered at each side into thean'gular groove or slot 38c thereof, and then passing the shaft 33 through the journal bearings 33a of the housing and keying the sleeve 34a to the shaft 33 in conventional manner.

An upwardly extended gear shift lever;.:35,is apertured asat 35a through a point substantially spaced above itslower extremity;ior 'engaging-the outwardly extended end 33!) of the shaft 33, to which it is firmly looked as indicated at 3512. A handle extension 35c is hingedly-connected'to the upper end of the gear shift l'ev'r35, as indicated at 35d, for the convenience of the operator, as illustrated in Figure 1.

For automatically supporting the gear shift mechanism to inoperative neutral position and returning it to such position after operation, a short neutralizing lever 36 (Figure?) is horizontally pivoted as at 36a to the left side of the housing 2 la, and this lever is passed horizontally below the lower end of the gear shift lever 35. An eye-bolt 31 is seated in the side of the housing 2| a rearwardly of the extended end 33b of the shaft 33 and substantially above and in vertical alignment with the rear end of the neutralizing lever 36, and a strong coil spring 38 is stretched and fastened at its ends between the eye-bolt 31 and the rear free end of the lever 36, as shown at 38a. This lever is deeply and angularly notched through as shown at 36b, in a V-shaped manner, the sides of this notch being bevelled down equally at each side, as shown. The lower end of the gear shift lever 35 is correspondingly bevelled off and pointed as shown at 35c, whereby with the lever 35 positioned vertically and the slidable clutch member in its corresponding neutral position on the shaft 21, the pointed lower end 35e will fully seat within the V-shaped notch 36b, and thus hold the lever 35 in neutral position. Similarly, when the lever 35 has been oscillated to either side of the vertical for the purpose of shifting gears of the apparatus, the spring 38 will, after the lever is released by the operator, pull upwardly on the neutralizing lever 36 and cause the bevelled end of the lever 35 to slide fully down into the V-shaped notch 36b of the lever 36, thus raising the lever 35 vertically to neutral position, and moving the operating gears also to neutral position.

In use and with theconstruction as shown, the operator by moving the lever 35 to the right, thereby sliding the clutch member 28 forwardly or towards the left, thus intermeshing the ratch pinions 28b, 29c, and causing the pinion gear 26 and the drive gear 29 to rotate for example in an anti-clockwise direction, and pulling the pushplate I forwardly to the position shown in Figure 3. This operation clears the wagon box for re ceiving a load of material, such as chopped hay or fodder, as indicated at M! in Figures 1 and 2. The gear shift lever 35 is then released to neutral position and the rear end gate d is closed down and the loaded wagon is hitched to the tractor 8 by connecting the tongue 5 .9 with the hitch 6c of the tractor 6. Arrived at the place of unloading, the wagon is unhitched from the tractor, the rear end gate lid is removed, and the power transmission shaft 3| is employed in the manner already explained for connecting the gear shaft 21 of the apparatus with the power take-off shaft 6b of the 6 tractorfjfi. '{The lever35'is then pulled were le thereby sliding the clutch member28 rearward-5" ly, or towards the right and thereby meshing the ratch pinions 28c,"29b, andcausing the drive gear 4 2n 'tp'r'otate clockwise 'for" pulling the push ,plate 1' rearwardly and discharging" the load Ill out through the 'open rearend "of'thewagon, In this operation the cables'8, 860, as passedforwardly under the wagon, 'are wound'upoiito'ithe outer ends ofthedrums l0,l0a. While I have here shown and described a pre ferred embodiment of my unloading apparatus, the specific structuralfeatures thereof as shown the scope of the claims,

Iclaimti I I 1. The combination with a rectangularlyelongate wagon box for mounting upon the running gear of a wagon, the said wagon box including a bed plate, upright side and front end plates, of a push-plate mounted freely, transversely and vermay be changed or modif ed as desired,

tically within the wagon box and arranged for 1 movement forwardly and rearwardly therein, a pair of flexible cables passed laterally above and below the bed plate of the wagon box, said cables being fastened at their ends over-lying the bed plate to brackets secured laterally to the rear side of the lower margin of the push plate and thence passed rearwardly over pulleys mounted laterally on the rear end of the bed plate, and thence passed forwardly below the bed plate, a winch drive shaft journaled transversely at the forward end of the wagon box outwardly of the front end plate, a pair of winch drums rigidly keyed upon the ends of the winch shaft, the forward ends of the said cables as extended forwardly below the bed plate being fastened to the said drums, controllable power means for rotating the winch drive shaft and drums in either direction, for moving the said push plate within the wagon box forwardly for clearing the box for receiving a load of material, or rearwardly for discharging the same, the said winch drums being spaced apart medially on the winch drive shaft to provide a seating for a spur drive gear, and the said controllable power means for operating the winch mechanisms including a spur drive gear keyed upon the winch drive shaft between the winch drums, housings mounted over the said winch drive shaft, winch drums and drive gear, a gear shaft journaled vertically within the housings, a worm gear keyed to the gear shaft and placed in mesh with the spur drive gear, a bevelled pinion gear keyed on the upper end of the vertical gear shaft, a bevelled pinion gear keyed on the upper end of the vertical gear shaft, a horizontal gear shaft journaled upwardly and longitudinally within the housings, power controlled means for rotating said horizontal gear shaft, a clutch member slidably keyed upon the horizontal gear shaft, ratch pinions rigidly mounted at the ends of the slidable clutch member in a spaced relation for providing an intermediate annular channel, positive clutch members rotatably mounted on the horizontal gear shaft at opposite sides of the slidable clutch member, the same including ratchet pinions on their inner ends adapted to alternately intermesh with the ratch pinions of the slidable clutch member as the latter is shifted from side to side, and including bevelled pinion gears in mesh with the complemental bevelled pinion gear at the upper end of the said vertical gear shaft, a gear shift lever extended down vertically into the housing and pivotally supported at: its luwen end; theneinh the: same having; a tynke at-its lower end. placedy astnaddle the saidslidable clutch member, the, yoke in turnhaving lugs ex-- tended. horizontally intothe annular channel, between the ratch pinions ofthe saidslidable. clutch member, wherebyby shifting the upperend. of the gear: shift lever forwardly-on rearwardly, the direction of rotation of. the gearsfland winch drums may be, controlledvthrough the intermeshing of the said ratch pinions of theslidable and positive clutchmembersb 2. In. an assembly according tov claim 1, means for automaticallyholding the said slidable clutch member to its neutral position, when its ratch pinions are not intermeshed with. either of the ratch pinions of the positive clutch members v 3 .iI1Lanassemb1y according to claim 1, housandrsaidg'gearq-shift devices;

V FRED: ELVKNAER, IR.

. REFERENCES CITED The fo'llbwing references; are 0f: record in the file of this patent't =UNJIJEDQ STATES1= PATENTS 419 3551" GreatBritain NOV. 9, 1934: 

